What is E-commerce?
Electronic Commerce (also referred to as EC, e-commerce or ecommerce) consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketing and servicing of products or services over electronic system such as the Internet and other computer networks. The information technology industry might see it as an electronic business application aimed at commercial transactions.
Pro: Many companies online provide excellent values because they do not have to pay the overhead of owning a physical business that will cost them insurance, employee pay, taxes and more. New Melt TabsHigh quality Soft Tabs low prices Range of sex boost sublingual pillswww.drugstorebestbuys.com Online FindThis Site Has Links to Various Shopping Discounts, Safe and Easyonlinefind.googlepages.com Save when Online ShoppingFree Member discounts, rewards worldwide savings, Earn MoneyWhereTheWorldShops.com
Consumers can benefit from the savings of online shopping, especially when they combine it with special promotional coupons, and other consumer incentives. Con: Companies offering free items online sometimes hike up the cost of shipping so high that they profit from the purchase. One example of this is the free software products that are advertised. You may get three free software CDs but the $14.95 shipping cost exceeds the real value of the products.
The trick to getting a good value on products you purchase online is to look at the entire purchase amount and not just the amount that you will be paying for a specific product. Reading the customer service sections on e-commerce sites should provide you with clear answers on return policies, restocking fees and what guarantee is offered on the products. If you have any remaining questions call the company and get them answered before you submit your credit card to any site.
Tool fetch, New York, NY (www.toolfetch.com) — Tool fetch is one of the largest ecommerce companies focused on the Construction Supply Industry and it is basically a construction supply company that specializes in the masonry, metal, material handling and woodworking business. Our founders have come from an industrial background that reaches back to over 80 years of knowledge and experience. With a clear vision of the future they founded Toolfetch.com, which offers a wide variety of high-end construction equipment and supplies to industry professionals across the world. Tool fetch has partnerships with over 200 manufacturers and represents over 15,000 products from top brands. To keep up with ever changing products and requests from customers we add product to our offering every day. Our goal is to provide the highest level of customer service, expert salesmanship and overall satisfaction to our customers. Tool fetch is an authorized dealer of over 200 manufacturers. "Before, we never had CRM as part of our ecommerce system. Now, Net Suite gives us useful features to help us keep in contact with our existing customers, which is a great benefit for our sales staff," said Andrew Brown, Tool fetch co-founder. "Sales reps no longer have to fish through several individual systems; they have the ability to follow up with their clients with much more ease." Tool fetch is proud to be recognized as a Top 500 Retailer number 473 in the retail market per Internet Retailer Magazine. Industrialists are also available through lie chat. 9am -6pm est.
Online shoppers commonly use their credit card for making payments, however some systems enable users to create accounts and pay by alternative means, such as
Cash on delivery (C.O.D.) Note: Very few online stores will ship C.O.D.
Once a payment has been accepted the goods or services can either be downloaded from the Internet or delivered to the consumer via traditional means.
Tool fetch is also placing content on Shop.com and Froogle.com and building up its affiliate connections through Amazon’s Merchants@ program—all steps that can improve its appearance in natural search rankings. Tool fetch is also improving its search engine marketing strategy and is working with Traffic Leader to get more effective use of paid search on Google and natural search on Yahoo. “Search engine marketing is a top priority for us,” Brown says. “Without SEM, customers wouldn’t find us.”
Tool fetch Privacy
Tool fetch was designed so that no personal identifying information is displayed online or is accessible to the general public. Tool fetch do not reveal your e-mail address and do not ask for your personal information and doesn’t sell or rent our customer information to any outside party under any circumstances.
If you provide Tool fetch with your e-mail address and you would like to receive information and updates about Tool fetch’s increased inventory or specials we will keep you informed. Otherwise, Tool fetch will not send you further updates. Questions regarding the Toolfetch.com Privacy Policy should be directed to contact@toolfetch.com.
Tool fetch Security Issues
You’re browser and Tool fetch’s Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software is the industry standard and among the best software available today for secures online commerce transactions. It encrypts all of your personal information, including credit card number, name, and address, so that it cannot be read as the information travels over the Internet.
User and payment data is encrypted by SSL when it is transferred on the Internet.
Quality seals can be placed on the Shop webpage if it has undergone an independent assessment and meets all requirements of the company issuing the seal. The purpose of these seals is to increase the confidence of the online shoppers; the existence of many different seals foils this effort to a certain extent.
Privacy of personal information is a big issue. In spite of Privacy Guidelines of the OECD, for example, privacy violations still occur and hamper eCommerce from developing to its full potential.
You do not have aggressive salespeople bothering you.
Vast resources for product and price comparison are available.
Products can be found that are not available locally.
The Disadvantages of Shopping Online:
The inabilities to physically check out the items you are purchasing.
Losing the power to negotiate the price and payment terms that may exist in local stores.
Items ordered online are sometimes on backorder but the consumer is not always informed until weeks after the purchase is made.
Not always knowing if a site is a legitimate and safe site to shop.
Having to pay for shipping costs that far exceed the true shipping rate.
Returns and exchanges can sometimes be difficult because of the lack of face-to-face negotiations.
Restocking and shipping costs are often charged on returns made online.
Advantages
Convenient
Convenience includes the overall ease of finding a product, time spent on shopping, minimization of overall shoppoing effort (Schaupp & Belanger, 2005). Online shopping allows consumers to shop at the convenience of their own home, and to save traveling time to retail stores and spend their time on other important tasks and hobbies. In addition to ease of finding products online and shopping time reduction, consumers can shop without time limitation with 24-hr access at their convenience because the World Wide Web never closees. Also consumers can exchange information online through chatting and discussion forums to help them make wise consumer decisions.
No need for vendors and no pressure to buy
Online shopping benefits both the society as a whole and individuals. The society can save human resources when consumers help themselves by browsing freely online instead of asking for assistance from vendors. In addition, consumers are freed from the pressure to buy from the vendors and can spend more time to make wise purchase decisions. But it is imorpant that Web sites have good product descriptions because it is one of the significant condition that satisfy consumers.
"Infinite shelfspace" available
Consumers desire a variety of products because they look for the right product that will fully satisfy them. There is infinite variety of products available online because online shopping allows consumers to browse through products that are made all around the world without geographical boundaries.
Able to compare product price and features
With the online tools that enable product comparison, consumers can compare product prices and features to make a better decision with less effort. More details are included in solutions section.
Disadvantages/Concerns
Enjoyment of retail shopping lost
Many enjoy shopping with others and it is often a good way to make social connections. When shopping independently online, the enjoyment is lost.
Privacy and security issues
Privacy is the number one reason that non-online shoppers do not shop online. Another recent study has found that privacy was the top concern of customers while security ranked bottom (Schaupp & Belanger, 2005). This proves that many do not trust the privay of the Internet and are concerned with their credit card frauds, unwanted solicitation, and use of their information for other purposes. Security of Web sites is not the top concern because many shop on Web sites that they trust so that other factors appear to be more important than security.
Access to the Internet and computer necessary
Because one needs money to buy a computer and to have Internet connection, online shopping seems to be limited people of reasonable amount of income. Also, since it is harder to learn computer at an older age, the elderly people tend shop at traditional retail stores.
Product category risk
Product category risk is related to functional products such as apparel, perfume, and electronics, that have functions that cannot fully be experienced online. Online shopper are worried that the products will not be what they have expected by viewing online. This is a clear disadvantage of online shopping because it shows that "[t]he likelihood of purchasing on the Internet decreases with increases in product risk". Solutions
Enjoyment of retail shopping lost - Online shopping can be fun
A study has found that many people find enjoyment and freedom through shopping online and like to browse through even if they do not have a goal-oriented shopping item on mind (Wolfinbarger). One such factor is user-friendly interface that make shopping enjoyable and visually pleasant. To solve the problem of the lost social interactivity, consumers can engage in other meaningful activiteis such as partying, dining, sports activities, etc. Even though the enjoyment attained from online shopping is uncomparable to the one by social interactions, some of it can be compensated by the enjoyment of shopping online and participating in other activities.
Privacy and security issues - Third-party seal
This is a very important issue because studies have found that "consumers who perceive fewer risks or concerns toward online shopping are expected to maker more online purchases than more risk-laden consumers. Although it is possible to invade one's privacy online, no significant amount of statistical results relating to the victims who have been invaded, has been found. Many are simply concerned and mistrust online stores. What online stores need is the mechanism that signals security of financial transactions on the Web. One possible solution is to require web site makers to provide a third-party seal approval that signal privacy and security on their web sites. Thus when consumers see the seal, they can trust the Web site and not worry about invasion of their privacy. Moreover, all companies will desire to keep frauds away in order to build company reputation and to survive in the competitive online market. Once they build consumer trust, online shoppers will not be discouraged to shop on their Web sites.
Product category risk - 3D technology
Apparel online shopping has a lot of room for improvement. Although it is not yet widely used, many online shop creaters are developing 3D technologies to use for online shopping. Companies such as E-Tailor, is developing customized fitting room for consumers to build their own body online that will allow them to try on as many clothings as possible. A university in Switzerland is developing a more powerful try-on application that will allow their customers to apply multiple layers of clothes. What Are the Advantages of Online Shopping (versus Shopping at a Physical Store)?
Convenience, no pressure shopping, savings in time, consistency between advertised price and site price, no driving and parking, sometimes no cost delivery even to third party receiver, information on product comparison easily available, sometimes price comparison available online, third party shopping sites keeping merchants competitive hence offering the best products and prices, 24/7 shopping, ease in merchandise cancellation or return, sometimes tracking of shipping available, large online shopping site offering store comparison and sometimes no taxes. What Are the Disadvantages of Online Shopping (versus Shopping at a Physical Store)?
Lack of touch and feel of merchandise, lack of personal attention from a salesman (*MWS Online Shopping Mart offers Click Call service to talk to a sales representative which may be a necessity for online shopping), not able to try the merchandise on (especially clothing), lack of close quality. I mentioned some of these before but this is just for clarifying the things.
Typographical Errors
In the event a product is listed at an incorrect price or with incorrect information due to typographical error or error in pricing or product information received from our suppliers, Toolfetch.com shall have the right to refuse or cancel any orders placed for product listed at the incorrect price. Toolfetch.com shall have the right to refuse or cancel any such orders whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged. If your credit card has already been charged for the purchase and your order is canceled, Toolfetch.com shall immediately issue a credit to your credit card account in the amount of the charge. Order Acceptance Policy
Your receipt of an electronic or other form of order confirmation does not signify our acceptance of your order, nor does it constitute confirmation of our offer to sell. Toolfetch.com reserves the right at any time after receipt of your order to accept or decline your order for any reason. Toolfetch.com reserves the right at any time after receipt of your order, without prior notice to you, to supply less than the quantity you ordered of any item. Sales Taxes
Toolfetch.com shall automatically charge and withhold the applicable sales tax for orders to be delivered to addresses in New York. Each customer shall be solely responsible for all sales taxes, or other taxes, on orders shipped to any other state. Service and Support
All requests for technical service and support should be made directly to the manufacturer in accordance with their terms and conditions. Toolfetch Privacy
This statement discloses the privacy practices for both our web site and e-mail system. We have designed Toolfetch so that no personal identifying information is displayed online or is accessible to the general public. We do not reveal your e-mail address and do not ask for your personal information. We do not sell or rent our customer information to any outside party under any circumstances.
Electronic Commerce (also referred to as EC, e-commerce or ecommerce) consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketing and servicing of products or services over electronic system such as the Internet and other computer networks. The information technology industry might see it as an electronic business application aimed at commercial transactions.
What is Online shopping?
Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the Internet. An online shop, e-shop, internet shop, web shop or online store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a shopping mall. It is an electronic commerce application used for business-to-business electronic commerce (B2B) or business-to-consumer electronic commerce (B2C). Online shopping is popular mainly because of its speed and ease of use. Some issues of concern can include fluctuating exchange rates for foreign currencies, local and international laws and delivery methods.
Points to Keep In Mind When Shopping Online
Pro: Many companies online provide excellent values because they do not have to pay the overhead of owning a physical business that will cost them insurance, employee pay, taxes and more.New Melt TabsHigh quality Soft Tabs low prices Range of sex boost sublingual pillswww.drugstorebestbuys.com
Online FindThis Site Has Links to Various Shopping Discounts, Safe and Easyonlinefind.googlepages.com
Save when Online ShoppingFree Member discounts, rewards worldwide savings, Earn MoneyWhereTheWorldShops.com
Consumers can benefit from the savings of online shopping, especially when they combine it with special promotional coupons, and other consumer incentives.
Con: Companies offering free items online sometimes hike up the cost of shipping so high that they profit from the purchase. One example of this is the free software products that are advertised. You may get three free software CDs but the $14.95 shipping cost exceeds the real value of the products.
The trick to getting a good value on products you purchase online is to look at the entire purchase amount and not just the amount that you will be paying for a specific product. Reading the customer service sections on e-commerce sites should provide you with clear answers on return policies, restocking fees and what guarantee is offered on the products. If you have any remaining questions call the company and get them answered before you submit your credit card to any site.
Tool fetch, New York, NY (www.toolfetch.com) — Tool fetch is one of the largest ecommerce companies focused on the Construction Supply Industry and it is basically a construction supply company that specializes in the masonry, metal, material handling and woodworking business. Our founders have come from an industrial background that reaches back to over 80 years of knowledge and experience. With a clear vision of the future they founded Toolfetch.com, which offers a wide variety of high-end construction equipment and supplies to industry professionals across the world. Tool fetch has partnerships with over 200 manufacturers and represents over 15,000 products from top brands. To keep up with ever changing products and requests from customers we add product to our offering every day. Our goal is to provide the highest level of customer service, expert salesmanship and overall satisfaction to our customers. Tool fetch is an authorized dealer of over 200 manufacturers. "Before, we never had CRM as part of our ecommerce system. Now, Net Suite gives us useful features to help us keep in contact with our existing customers, which is a great benefit for our sales staff," said Andrew Brown, Tool fetch co-founder. "Sales reps no longer have to fish through several individual systems; they have the ability to follow up with their clients with much more ease." Tool fetch is proud to be recognized as a Top 500 Retailer number 473 in the retail market per Internet Retailer Magazine. Industrialists are also available through lie chat. 9am -6pm est.
Online shoppers commonly use their credit card for making payments, however some systems enable users to create accounts and pay by alternative means, such as
- Debit card
- Various types of electronic money
- Cash on delivery (C.O.D.) Note: Very few online stores will ship C.O.D.
Once a payment has been accepted the goods or services can either be downloaded from the Internet or delivered to the consumer via traditional means.Tool fetch is also placing content on Shop.com and Froogle.com and building up its affiliate connections through Amazon’s Merchants@ program—all steps that can improve its appearance in natural search rankings. Tool fetch is also improving its search engine marketing strategy and is working with Traffic Leader to get more effective use of paid search on Google and natural search on Yahoo. “Search engine marketing is a top priority for us,” Brown says. “Without SEM, customers wouldn’t find us.”
Tool fetch Privacy
Tool fetch was designed so that no personal identifying information is displayed online or is accessible to the general public. Tool fetch do not reveal your e-mail address and do not ask for your personal information and doesn’t sell or rent our customer information to any outside party under any circumstances.
If you provide Tool fetch with your e-mail address and you would like to receive information and updates about Tool fetch’s increased inventory or specials we will keep you informed. Otherwise, Tool fetch will not send you further updates. Questions regarding the Toolfetch.com Privacy Policy should be directed to contact@toolfetch.com.
Tool fetch Security Issues
You’re browser and Tool fetch’s Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software is the industry standard and among the best software available today for secures online commerce transactions. It encrypts all of your personal information, including credit card number, name, and address, so that it cannot be read as the information travels over the Internet.
- User and payment data is encrypted by SSL when it is transferred on the Internet.
- Quality seals can be placed on the Shop webpage if it has undergone an independent assessment and meets all requirements of the company issuing the seal. The purpose of these seals is to increase the confidence of the online shoppers; the existence of many different seals foils this effort to a certain extent.
Privacy of personal information is a big issue. In spite of Privacy Guidelines of the OECD, for example, privacy violations still occur and hamper eCommerce from developing to its full potential.Here is a category list of all sorts of construction tools that are sold through this online tool and they are Abrasive Blades, Air Tools, Automotive, Bits , Blades, Cement Mixers, Concrete Compaction, Cordless Tools, Coring Machines, Drywall Fasteners, Generators, Greenlee, Grounds Maintenance, Hand Tools, Heating, Hoisting, HVAC, Hydrostatic Pumps, Industrial Fans, Industrial Magnets ,Janitorial Equipment Lasers, Levels, Lighting ,Log Splitters, Lubrication ,Magnetic Drills & Cutters, Masonry Saws, Material Lifts/Handling, Metal Fabrication, Mortar Mixers, Panel Saws ,Pipe Working, Power Tools, Rebar ,Roofing, Safety Equipment, Shop Equipment, Storage Boxes Trash Pumps, Welding and others. They are also sold in the order of brands.
Here are customer feedbacks, which are recorded in this site, http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/feedback.html/002-5456101-3808830?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=&marketplaceSeller=&seller=AXPVI82I57KZA. Before all this I would like to say something about the feedbacks is that 88 % are positive feedbacks, and negative feedbacks are 10% and the neutral is 2%.
Here are the Advantages of Shopping Online:
- The stores are never closed.
- There is no dress code.
- There are no parking woes.
- You do not have aggressive salespeople bothering you.
- Vast resources for product and price comparison are available.
Products can be found that are not available locally.The Disadvantages of Shopping Online:
- The inabilities to physically check out the items you are purchasing.
- Losing the power to negotiate the price and payment terms that may exist in local stores.
- Items ordered online are sometimes on backorder but the consumer is not always informed until weeks after the purchase is made.
- Not always knowing if a site is a legitimate and safe site to shop.
- Having to pay for shipping costs that far exceed the true shipping rate.
- Returns and exchanges can sometimes be difficult because of the lack of face-to-face negotiations.
- Restocking and shipping costs are often charged on returns made online.
Advantages- Convenient
- No need for vendors and no pressure to buy
- "Infinite shelfspace" available
Consumers desire a variety of products because they look for the right product that will fully satisfy them. There is infinite variety of products available online because online shopping allows consumers to browse through products that are made all around the world without geographical boundaries.Convenience includes the overall ease of finding a product, time spent on shopping, minimization of overall shoppoing effort (Schaupp & Belanger, 2005). Online shopping allows consumers to shop at the convenience of their own home, and to save traveling time to retail stores and spend their time on other important tasks and hobbies. In addition to ease of finding products online and shopping time reduction, consumers can shop without time limitation with 24-hr access at their convenience because the World Wide Web never closees. Also consumers can exchange information online through chatting and discussion forums to help them make wise consumer decisions.
Online shopping benefits both the society as a whole and individuals. The society can save human resources when consumers help themselves by browsing freely online instead of asking for assistance from vendors. In addition, consumers are freed from the pressure to buy from the vendors and can spend more time to make wise purchase decisions. But it is imorpant that Web sites have good product descriptions because it is one of the significant condition that satisfy consumers.
- Able to compare product price and features
With the online tools that enable product comparison, consumers can compare product prices and features to make a better decision with less effort. More details are included in solutions section.Disadvantages/Concerns
- Enjoyment of retail shopping lost
- Privacy and security issues
Privacy is the number one reason that non-online shoppers do not shop online. Another recent study has found that privacy was the top concern of customers while security ranked bottom (Schaupp & Belanger, 2005). This proves that many do not trust the privay of the Internet and are concerned with their credit card frauds, unwanted solicitation, and use of their information for other purposes. Security of Web sites is not the top concern because many shop on Web sites that they trust so that other factors appear to be more important than security.Many enjoy shopping with others and it is often a good way to make social connections. When shopping independently online, the enjoyment is lost.
- Access to the Internet and computer necessary
- Product category risk
Product category risk is related to functional products such as apparel, perfume, and electronics, that have functions that cannot fully be experienced online. Online shopper are worried that the products will not be what they have expected by viewing online. This is a clear disadvantage of online shopping because it shows that "[t]he likelihood of purchasing on the Internet decreases with increases in product risk".Because one needs money to buy a computer and to have Internet connection, online shopping seems to be limited people of reasonable amount of income. Also, since it is harder to learn computer at an older age, the elderly people tend shop at traditional retail stores.
Solutions
- Enjoyment of retail shopping lost - Online shopping can be fun
- Privacy and security issues - Third-party seal
This is a very important issue because studies have found that "consumers who perceive fewer risks or concerns toward online shopping are expected to maker more online purchases than more risk-laden consumers. Although it is possible to invade one's privacy online, no significant amount of statistical results relating to the victims who have been invaded, has been found. Many are simply concerned and mistrust online stores. What online stores need is the mechanism that signals security of financial transactions on the Web. One possible solution is to require web site makers to provide a third-party seal approval that signal privacy and security on their web sites. Thus when consumers see the seal, they can trust the Web site and not worry about invasion of their privacy. Moreover, all companies will desire to keep frauds away in order to build company reputation and to survive in the competitive online market. Once they build consumer trust, online shoppers will not be discouraged to shop on their Web sites.A study has found that many people find enjoyment and freedom through shopping online and like to browse through even if they do not have a goal-oriented shopping item on mind (Wolfinbarger). One such factor is user-friendly interface that make shopping enjoyable and visually pleasant. To solve the problem of the lost social interactivity, consumers can engage in other meaningful activiteis such as partying, dining, sports activities, etc. Even though the enjoyment attained from online shopping is uncomparable to the one by social interactions, some of it can be compensated by the enjoyment of shopping online and participating in other activities.
- Product category risk - 3D technology
Apparel online shopping has a lot of room for improvement. Although it is not yet widely used, many online shop creaters are developing 3D technologies to use for online shopping. Companies such as E-Tailor, is developing customized fitting room for consumers to build their own body online that will allow them to try on as many clothings as possible. A university in Switzerland is developing a more powerful try-on application that will allow their customers to apply multiple layers of clothes.What Are the Advantages of Online Shopping (versus Shopping at a Physical Store)?
Convenience, no pressure shopping, savings in time, consistency between advertised price and site price, no driving and parking, sometimes no cost delivery even to third party receiver, information on product comparison easily available, sometimes price comparison available online, third party shopping sites keeping merchants competitive hence offering the best products and prices, 24/7 shopping, ease in merchandise cancellation or return, sometimes tracking of shipping available, large online shopping site offering store comparison and sometimes no taxes.
What Are the Disadvantages of Online Shopping (versus Shopping at a Physical Store)?
Lack of touch and feel of merchandise, lack of personal attention from a salesman (*MWS Online Shopping Mart offers Click Call service to talk to a sales representative which may be a necessity for online shopping), not able to try the merchandise on (especially clothing), lack of close quality. I mentioned some of these before but this is just for clarifying the things.
Typographical Errors
In the event a product is listed at an incorrect price or with incorrect information due to typographical error or error in pricing or product information received from our suppliers, Toolfetch.com shall have the right to refuse or cancel any orders placed for product listed at the incorrect price. Toolfetch.com shall have the right to refuse or cancel any such orders whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged. If your credit card has already been charged for the purchase and your order is canceled, Toolfetch.com shall immediately issue a credit to your credit card account in the amount of the charge.
Order Acceptance Policy
Your receipt of an electronic or other form of order confirmation does not signify our acceptance of your order, nor does it constitute confirmation of our offer to sell. Toolfetch.com reserves the right at any time after receipt of your order to accept or decline your order for any reason. Toolfetch.com reserves the right at any time after receipt of your order, without prior notice to you, to supply less than the quantity you ordered of any item.
Sales Taxes
Toolfetch.com shall automatically charge and withhold the applicable sales tax for orders to be delivered to addresses in New York. Each customer shall be solely responsible for all sales taxes, or other taxes, on orders shipped to any other state.
Service and Support
All requests for technical service and support should be made directly to the manufacturer in accordance with their terms and conditions.
Toolfetch Privacy
This statement discloses the privacy practices for both our web site and e-mail system. We have designed Toolfetch so that no personal identifying information is displayed online or is accessible to the general public. We do not reveal your e-mail address and do not ask for your personal information. We do not sell or rent our customer information to any outside party under any circumstances.